One of my old bosses used to always say, "Everything is a sine wave." It's easy to see energy expressed in sine waves, and matter is a form of "denser" energy. But philosophical argument aside, I believe my DVR is a sine wave -- or more specifically, the way I watch TV, over time, can be expressed as a sine wave.

This type of spiking is becoming a fairly negative experience for me, so I'm coining a new term: "DVR Bipolar Syndrome."

Remember how CD's changed the way people listened to music? In most ways it was great. Aside from the quality and durability, it was the first time we had a form of random access to our music. The medium changed the way records were marketed and produced, and in turn changed the way artists created music. This likely influenced the concept of popular music -- even more so now that we can simply buy the songs we like, or buy a subscription to huge libraries -- it's amazing.

But I digress. My DVR cycle begins with a rush of shows I always watch -- the first run sitcoms and dramas. The schedule is then filled with the nice-to-have's but only at my convenience (in other words, the shows I'm not staying up at 3am to watch). Thanks to dual-tuners, I no longer need to choose between two competing time slots -- I've got it all. Within days, I've got hours of recorded shows and they're gaining fast.

Soon, though, I'm completely out of touch with live TV. No news (though that's not a bad thing), and I'm missing new shows left and right -- Invasion? Never heard of it. The Office? Nope. Rome? Never been there. After some time, usually 6 to 8 weeks, I suddenly have run out of stuff to watch. I've seen every episode of The King of Queens, and the first run shows I was watching have now ended. So, I cycle aimlessly through the guide to find something, and I begin a cycle of watching live TV.

This continues for a few weeks ... eventually, as I discover new shows (like, err, The Office, Rome, et. al.) the cycle begins anew. So here's my recommendation: use the DVR like a self-managed VCR. Fast forward through the commercials, record stuff when you're out, enjoy pausing live TV. But, if you find days passing where you have watched only pre-recorded shows, watch out for the bottom of the wave -- stay out of touch from real TV too long and it's tough to get back on the saddle. And -- perhaps most importantly -- use the DVR to help you watch less TV, not more.